On Patrol: 1985 Plymouth Fury Police Car
Calling all units! Not so long ago, Diplomats and Furys roamed the streets in police livery with lights mounted atop the roof. While many M-bodies still roam the streets, the lower-optioned Salon trim models seem less abundant (if abundant can be used to describe the amount of these cars still on the road) than the more highly optioned models. These vehicles may seem bland to some, but I can speak from experience with my roommate’s 1988 Diplomat that these cars can be great fun! To have one in police specifications still wearing some livery is the ultimate goal of pretty much every M-body enthusiast I know. Find this one here on eBay in California with bidding at $660 and reserve not met.
This Fury is covered in heavy dust inside and out. According to the ad, this car (along with several others) was driven into an airplane hangar nearly 30 years ago once it was decommissioned in 1989. Thus, this car remains almost exactly as it was when it was originally decommissioned as it has only recently been removed from the hangar. It is hard to tell from the pictures, but there doesn’t appear to be any actual damage to the interior other than dirt and age. A good cleaning would go a long way on this car, and fast!
The front and back seats almost look like they have seat covers on them, but I suspect that they are all covered in vinyl for increased durability and ease of cleaning. Better pictures would easily answer this question. If they are indeed just plain, flat vinyl, then cleaning this interior will be a lot easier than it looks!
Still sitting on its original police spec wheels (which are worth a decent amount of money on their own these days!), this Fury is a solid and rust-free car. The only damage is the broken tail light lens on the driver’s side and the damaged rear wheel well trim shown here. The engine is a 318 with a 4-barrel carburetor, and being in a police vehicle should yield plenty of power. The seller states that the “Engine turns freely and should run. Nothing under the hood has been touched.” I would clean this car up, put on some lights, and enjoy it just as it is. What would you do with it?
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Comments
“It’s got Cop brakes, Cop motor, cop suspension. We have half a tank of gas, a pack of cigarettes, and we’re wearing sunglasses”
This car is needed!
Correction: “Full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark and we’re wearing sunglasses”.
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
Not quite the Blues Brother’s but it will do. Great first car for a high schooler and will pi$$ off the neighbors at the same time…if not on speaking terms.
Fix the cigarette lighter.
LOL! Much rather have a ’49 Nash…….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDXharb88AA
Well, it’s an old cop car, alright. No rear widow or door handles. ( sat in the back of a few in my trucking career) Monster truck shows always looking for cars like this.
this is what’s left of the “I15 auction” that was posted here a few days ago a number were not sold.. so it looks like the seller is trying on ebay I like it, it looks solid.. to me anywaays, it would be worth bringing back to ” like new” condition.. if not better than new condition .. but.. one.. really don’t have the bucks.. and it is on ” the other coast” hope whomever gets it does it justice
I would get an oversized novelty insulin needle and drive it around Oklahoma as The Fury With A Syringe On Top.
http://Www.sadtrombone.com
That is just AWFUL. You win the prize, good one!
I had a balding co-worker who was sometimes referred to as “surly with a fringe on top”.
Bought one of these at a auction in 88…omg ..the stuff that poor car went thru!!…finally drove it to the grave yard…but with one last smokey power brakey round and round burn out out front!!…he gave me $200
I used to drive one of these POSs on patrol. Poor suspension and under powered. 115 mph top speed. The Crown Vic and Impala were much better cars.
the closest I came to one of these ( or one like it) was when I took one out for a test drive ( used) it had scoot.. the dealer came along with me , so I really couldn’t put it thru its paces , but, I was pretty impressed.. these were better than the St. Regis’s and Newports of the late 70s and early 80s
I love my 87 Fury Ex NYPD. These cars are bad ass. Scared the crap outta me when NYPD used them. I hope the new owner really cleans it up, lights , sirens 🚨 everything should work . Bring it to car shows. The kids will love it as they do mine. My Fury got more attention than the ho hum, yawn yawn 70 chevelle that I was next to!! Nice find!!!
Wouldn’t mind getting a better look at the yellow one next to it.
We had these on the Left Coast and i remember them as being monster cars.
Clean this up, do what you have to do with the mechanicals and roll, buddy.
Legit question, this one is a 318, if the engine isn’t completely worn out, would it be possible to bore it out, put in a mildly lopey cam and run it like that? I think a 360 would haul arse .. and of course the “cop” equipment is already there and it is an AZ car.. so it shouldn’t be TOO bad, or could it? they should have at least hosed it off hard to tell how bad ( or good) the paint is
The 318 & 340 have the same stroke and different bores. So that may be as far as it goes. The 360 had a longer stroke and crankcase mods to work.
The 318 in patrol cars came with 360 heads and intake. It is possible to bore and stroke a 318 to almost 400 cubes. I think car craft had an article many years ago on such a build ,H.P. and torque were very impressive ad i recall.
Great daily beaters. Durable and dependable. Had three of ’em.
If you go to the ebay site and hit “see other items” he has a few more of these, an AMC Concord and a blue Fury for sale. Unfortunately not the yellow one
It would fun to have one of these “in uniform” for a summer fun car, but it would really be a toss-up between a ‘78 Fury and an ‘88 Crown Vic for me.
Would love to get my hands on the blue one. Car in CA. and I’m in PA. DAM!
Had an 81 Saint Regis ex Fl. highway patrol car 318,360 heads,thermopuke carb. got rid of factory computer and put on Holley spreadbore dual exhaust, ran real good. Would love to have this or another St. Regis. Mopars handle very well, don’t know why anyone would say they don’t.Just my experience.
The little town I grew up in had a couple of these, they got smart and decided to start a bidding war between the 3 local dealers, Well the Local Dodge Dealer let the town have 2 of them for $1.00 a year lease, come to find out the agreement was they had to have the Police sign and everything on them had to be magnets, and on the Trunk was a magnet that said Leased from Turley Dodge. Well the next year they had the Fords, basically the same deal. It was smart for a small town to have up to date cars, strange how they don’t do that anymore.
Nothing to that onw but would like to better get the yellowish one to the left of it.
In late 80s while in high school a buddy of mine had an ex FBI car like this one . He received it as a gift from his grandfather who purchased the car through an auction. I don’t know why but it was the fastest car in town. Beat all the Vettes, Camaros and Mustangs. Also gave like 5 MPG. Interesting car.
A lot of these became taxis. HD shocks, cooling system, alternator, springs and the wider wheels. I had one try to chase me down back in the day. Found out they were governed from the factory at 115!! Man, was that officer was pi$$ed that my little Dodge D50 was leaving him! PS, I was heading East on I70 with a 65mph tail wind in Colorado ! I slowed down, got $25 ticket & was on the road again.
Such weird nostalgia for this era of American junk. Chrysler product in particular. An article about the CHP using these showed they were universally reviled by officers. One officer said he spotted a speeding Porsche, knew he could never catch the guy, but hit his lights anyway. The Porsche driver obligingly pulled over, and the cop thanked him for it.
I was in NY over the weekend. You won’t believe what passes for police cars there now. SMART CARS! Loved these bought and sold several from Baltimore years ago. Slapped on a vinyl top and cleaned um up. People with kids loved the heavy vinyl interior.
No siree. The smart cars you saw are used for Nypd ticketing agents . NYPD uses Chargers.
Back in 1989 I was an engineering student and worked a summer job of watching over city construction sites . The eng. dpt got these cars « fresh » out of police duty, lights removed. Odd to see a steel topped dash in the mid ‘90s. Shifter would pop out of D all the time, but with the big wheels they did fine on the job sites!
Junk. Pitiful horsepower and lousy handling. Not worth it
Calm down there Tiger. As an ex NYPD officer said to me, I haven’t found a bad guy who could outrun a Motorola. Motorola’s are still faster than any cruiser, outrun, out handle and for that matter out anything on the road today.
Don’t forget. ALL police cars in the 80s were slow. I’ve owned several M body police cars they are very rugged. To say they are junk proves Mike has no experience with them.
This is what i did with my 1988. Back to original.
Love it Bo. There’s just something bad ass about those Furys and Diplomats. The only cop cars that scared the crap outta me in the day. There really isn’t anything today, even the Vics do it for me, that has that presence. Maybe a Charger all badged up? Maybe? Today is like…oh ok..Smokey got himself a customer. Anyway, Here’s my Fury. It’s an 87 Retired NYPD from Fort Apache in the Bronx.
Bo, love the jetsonic on top. They were the perfect lightbar for those older dips and vics. I still have one in my garage off of my departments crown vic that sat for years behind the city garage and wasted away. Cool!
It should have a Smith and Wesson. But those are hard to find.
I actually like the look of the lightbars. More official looking IMHO. I think the going thing today is extensive use of light emitting diodes twinkling and fiddling and blinking obnoxiously bright, having police cars looking like christmas trees. (YEA..BUT THESE ARE BRIGHTER) I know. I agree. But I had no problems seeing the lightbars either..
I do not like the LEDs. Almost ran over two troopers standing in the road one night on a two lane. The lights were so bright I could not see them until I almost hit them. I always thought rotators did just fine.
I’m right with you. I don’t find them them all that necessary. I never came close to hitting a cop car with the rotators or bubble gum machines as the truckers called them. Did you check out my 87 Gran Fury above? I’d love to see if anyone has a vintage police car reunion anywhere
Assuming that everything is all there, it looks like a car that can be restored. I’ve always loved the Dodge Diplomat and the Plymouth Fury.